The Time of Change
by Spring Zephyr
Summary: "He likes you. Mystery solved." (Ritshou)


**This was supposed to be finished before the anime aired, and lookie now, Shou is supposed to appear this week. In my defense, I am a horrible shipper and the ending kept going up in flames and rejections. Which is why I called on the Underdog Hero for help; now the ending is completely out of my control, because not even I have read it yet.**

" – then the battle ended in one punch, of course, 'cause, like I said, there's a hole in his chest now, and you seriously haven't watched this show?"

"Stop putting crumbs all over my bed," Ritsu replied flatly.

By the look on Shou's face, that was not he response he'd been hoping for.

Ritsu shrugged it off mentally, wondering, 'What else was I supposed to say?' He had to sleep in that bed later. 'Most of Shou's rambling doesn't make sense anyway.'

"Chew with your mouth closed," he added tactlessly.

"Just brush them off. And sorry."

Ritsu sighed, because he'd completely missed the point.

It didn't take more than a few minutes before Shou was aimlessly chattering again, although at least this time he'd taken advantage of the empty plate at the corner of Ritsu's bed first. "Wanna go play psychic detective... or whatever it is your brother does?"

Ritsu narrowed his eyes.

"I don't mean that as an insult!" Shou added quickly, raising his hands in a display of honesty. They had a verbal agreement that Shou was not to insult or look down on Mob anymore, now that they were "friends". "That's what he does in his free time, isn't it?"

"He's not a 'psychic detective'." Shou sounded like he was being sincere, meaning it was now Ritsu's turn to react. "Don't talk about it like it's some kind of playground game, because my brother's the assistant to what is probably the greatest psychic detective in the world."

The soft "heh" sound Shou made was Ritsu's skepticism made audible. It was a weak response.

"It'll probably look great on his job application some day," Ritsu added, sounding even weaker.

"You're normally a much faster thinker than that," Shou laughed.

One of his eyebrows was quirked in amusement, but it wasn't quite annoying. It wasn't _not_ annoying either.

"If it were your brother, what would you have said?" Ritsu challenged.

"Definitely not that..." He hummed thoughtfully for a moment, then added, "Successor to the greatest psychic detective agency in the world. If it were my brother."

He was still rather critical towards Mob, which was a bit of a problem. Although sometimes he hid it almost too well for Ritsu to see, making it a little easier to forget. Then again, on rare occasions, there were times when Shou complimented him in a way that almost sounded genuine.

"What's the difference?" Ritsu asked, not pointing out that Mob probably wouldn't take over the agency anyway. When it came time for Reigen to die, he'd probably find a way to cheat the grim reaper too – or maybe he'd only die once he'd screwed up so badly there wasn't an agency left to be succeeded.

"It just sounds better! Anyway, you look bored – "

"I'm not," Ritsu interrupted.

Finding out what Shou's idea of "a great psychic mystery" was would probably be detrimental to their health.

"Wanna see me do a cartwheel?" Shou asked suddenly, jumping up at the same time he changed the subject.

"No," Ritsu replied, just as curtly as before.

Shou was quick too, however, in reflexes if not always wit, and was in the middle of a somewhat impressive one-handed cartwheel when he predictably crashed into Ritsu's desk.

X

"Are you going to answer that?" Dimple asked.

One day.

"What's the point?" Ritsu muttered. "It's only Shou."

He'd already messaged Ritsu on his phone thirty-four times.

Admittedly, with Shou officially banned from the house and Ritsu officially banned to his room, there wasn't much else to do aside from study or talk to Dimple – but he wasn't in the mood to answer Shou's texts right now. In fact, Ritsu almost would've preferred studying.

Shou hadn't been hurt, but – well, the fact that Ritsu's desk had been blown to smithereens and there was now a dent in his wall was why he was grounded in the first place. So in situations like this, there were definitely pros and cons to having psychic powers.

They hadn't managed to fix the damage before Ritsu's parents came barging into his room, and of course Ritsu could hardly explain that his wasn't nearly as bad as last week's accident, because that would've only gotten him into more trouble. But Shou had learned a lesson about not using psychic powers to imitate the winning shoot of some soccer game, and that was what mattered, right?

(The act itself might've been amusing. What Ritsu didn't understand was why Shou had tried so hard to impress him.)

His phone buzzed again, from that discolored spot on the floor where his replacement desk would eventually go. It was the third time in less than ten minutes.

"It could be someone else this time," Dimple suggested, although the look on his face suggested he didn't believe that either. If he weren't as bored as Ritsu, it was obvious that he would've gladly been anywhere else.

"It's not."

"Maybe it's Mob."

"You just want to read text messages over my shoulder again."

"I do not. What if it's Mob?"

"What if I told Mob – "

 _Buzz._

Ritsu cut himself off with a noise that was halfway between a growl and a sigh, and reached for his phone. He was losing patience and his resolve to "angrily" stop talking to Shou was wearing equally thin, though he'd never admit it.

"Just so you know, this has nothing to do with your nagging."

Now that he was finally checking his phone again, perhaps at least one of them would shut up. With a slight preference of it being Dimple.

"Right," Dimple replied. "What did Shou say?"

He tossed Dimple an annoyed glare from over his shoulder, knowing full well that Dimple could read in spite of his stupid appearance. On the bright side, Shou had finally given up trying to apologize. For several messages after that, he'd spent at least a couple hundred words each rambling about professional wrestling, soccer games, and then something about a moldy granola bar he'd found cleaning underneath the couch cushions at his mom's apartment (really, Shou?), all of which lead up to –

The phone vibrated in Ritsu's hand.

"Why does he do this?" Ritsu voiced his frustrations with another sigh. He gently tossed his phone back onto the floor and considered suffocating himself with his pillow, at least until this weekend was finally over.

Dimple's expression went slack with disbelief. In that dumb, open-mouthed way that made it look like he was suffering permanent brain damage but actually indicated that he was deep in thought, somehow. "You really want to know?" he offered.

Ritsu snorted incredulously. Like Dimple would actually –

"He likes you. Mystery solved."

"That's the problem, I already know he likes me. I'm his only friend!"

It was a mistake to have believed Dimple could be helpful for once, even for half a second. Ritsu would deny it had ever happened if anyone ever asked.

Instead of giving up, Dimple circled around to float in front of Ritsu's face. "Not that kind of 'like'. I mean he's _in love_ with you."

"...Dimple, please form a _real_ face so I can punch it."

X

 _Next time I see you, we need to talk,_ Ritsu typed. His parents were holding him to the honor system that he wouldn't be texting Shou over the weekend, and – well.

Ritsu was not always as obedient as they thought he was.

Not with Dimple's earlier words tugging at his conscious more persistently than the guilt. That had been replaced by a sinking, self-conscious feeling in his gut that appeared just by thinking about Shou.

Sometimes he almost managed to forget, but – it always came back.

Shou had grown on him and apparently Shou had liked him too, since the first time they'd met. Not enough for Ritsu to call it love though. Definitely not. He'd never be putting his much thought into Shou's casual shoulder bumps or the way he sometimes stopped and smiled at him for solid minutes if Dimple hadn't said anything, because those were normal friend things.

He could ask Shou right now if he wanted. The other boy was typing his replies right now, while Ritsu was too busy mulling over something Dimple had said.

Who trusted a possibly several thousand years old booger anyway? Dimple's _hobby_ was deceiving people.

He was a cult-leader wannabe..

 **[12:03 AM]** _Cool._

Not a second after Shou's first reply, he fired off three more:

 **[12:03 AM]** _Whenever you get ungrounded, we should go out again._

 **[12:03 AM]** _To a ball game!_

 **[12:03 AM]** _Wait, you don't like baseball do you..._

"I get what you mean" Ritsu typed back.

For some reason, Ritsu couldn't work up the nerve to do it. To ignore the trembling in his fingers and finally put his worries to rest – and he convinced himself that it was because these things were better said in person anyway, if movies and contemporary novels were to be believed.

But seriously, Shou's word choice.

How many kinds of "out" were there? They were obviously just going to grab lunch and maybe argue at the video store for a while anyway, like they usually did.

Ritsu pressed "send" on his reply at the same time another one of Shou's popped up:

 **[12:04 AM]** _But it would be awesome if you did!_

The next message in the chat belonged to Shou as well, a response to the one Ritsu had just sent:

 **[12:04 AM]** _Cool._

His parents were worried that Shou would turn him into some kind of delinquent. Mob was notably less concerned, and according to Shou, that was "cool" too. Ritsu had only ever told him Mob's opinion though.

 **[12:04 AM]** _Grounding's over on Monday, by the way,_ Ritsu typed after letting the feeling marinate for a while. That didn't make it go away either, and somehow still felt better than actually doing something about it – it meant he was avoiding a crisis, at least for now.

Monday was only two days away, but thinking about seeing Shou in person and then remembering what Dimple had said turned the cold, sinking feeling into a warm one. He missed Shou. Who else could have possibly made him appreciate cell-shaded drawings of manga characters and an increasing obsession with hamsters?

Five months ago, he wouldn't have given Shou's artwork a second chance. Now it was occupying half of a pinboard normally reserved for various notes, school projects, and awards, and Shou's drawings were actually quite good –

Screw Dimple.

Shou's presence in his life was becoming something of a normality; he was proud to call the red-headed boy a friend.

X

Monday took too long in coming.

Too much of Ritsu's weekend had been spent grappling with his resolve, trying to squash the anxiety clinging to his entrails before it could reform. Every time he thought he'd succeeded, it eventually returned – and every time he wondered it if would be best to leave the subject alone instead, he felt sickened by the knowledge of what Dimple had said.

Pride was a fickle thing.

But if it renewed his peace of mind, Ritsu would gladly submit to it this time. Once he worked up the courage to, that was.

"Sorry again about..." Shou trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

His cheeks were tinged with pink, but the autumn weather was a little chillier than usual. Ritsu looked the same; his skin was probably chapping from having stood out in the wind so long on top of that. Despite the scarf he'd worn.

"Don't worry about it," Ritsu replied.

Like a little kid, Shou began jumping in place. Probably to burn off excess energy, although if he was feeling that energetic, Ritsu wondered why he couldn't have been bothered to arrive ten minutes earlier, at their intended meeting time instead.

Aside from that one, nagging little thought, Ritsu didn't find it all that distracting.

"Your parents cool with it?"

"You might not be welcome back until they've had a little more time to calm down," Ritsu admitted.

"Ah, that's a shame. I really like your mother's cooking."

"Yeah."

"But I understand!"

Shou liked spicy foods.

Ritsu thought his mother was trying to melt his taste buds off through spicy curry as a punishment for "being a bad influence" on her son, but as long as Shou hadn't noticed yet, what did it matter?

His mother had uncanny instincts sometimes; she probably wasn't wrong.

"Anyway, what did you call me for?" Shou asked. He continued in a quieter tone of voice, eyes on the sidewalk, admitting, "I'm a little surprised... I mean, I'm usually the one asking to meet up."

"Actually, you mostly appear at my house uninvited."

Shou stopped jumping. "Yeah, that!" He laughed, without a hint of remorse.

Ritsu almost rolled his eyes, but this was a serious conversation. Even if Shou would undoubtedly struggle with the "serious" part. And thanks to the heat suddenly flaring up under Ritsu's cheeks, he was probably considering a joke about Ritsu being cousin to a tomato or something like that on top of it all.

"I think you should stop," Ritsu blurted out, before he got the chance.

Not very elegant. Downright rude compared to the measured way he normally spoke, in fact, but he would've done anything to make the hyper-awareness stop at this point.

Then Shou abruptly fell silent, which wasn't helping. The smile disappeared from his face.

"Um, what?" Shou asked, with a low chuckle that did little to hide his confusion.

Ah, right. Ritsu still needed to explain that part.

"Oh, we can still be friends, it's just – Listen, we shouldn't hang out so much. People think it's weird," as Ritsu's throat went dry, he tried to force the words out with a laugh, so maybe Shou wouldn't take him so seriously after all. "Well, mostly Dimple."

Shou tilted his head. He waited for a further response, but there was none.

"I mean, Dimple's started joking that you're in love with me," Ritsu finished, wondering if he'd ever look normal again after that. If Shou felt like making tomato jokes about his face now, it'd be perfectly justifiable.

In fact, he was practically begging Shou to crack a joke now. Any indication that their relationship could go back to normal –

Anything, _please._

For some reason, Shou copied his dry laugh from earlier instead. "Gee, Ritsu, the _one_ time you listen to what that wannabe evil spirit has to say..."

"You're not, are you?" Ritsu asked.

"Ritsu, if smelly farts had faces, they would all look like Dimple's. Never trust a fart, they'll always betray you."

Ritsu glared. Not exactly the joke he'd been hoping for, and he had no problem telling Shou either, "I didn't call you here to talk about your gastrointestinal issues."

"What if – like, hypothetically – I said 'yes'?"

At first, Ritsu was too busy choking on air to respond. It was cold out, so it stung the inside of his chest a little bit too.

 _Hypothetically?_ Who had taught Shou that word! They wouldn't be having this conversation right now if –

"Hypothetically?" Ritsu repeated weakly.

"Yes."

If he hadn't watched Shou burn down his house and kidnap his parents once with roughly the same expression, Ritsu would've wondered how the other boy could maintain his straight face. Ritsu, on the other hand, felt like the atmosphere was suddenly a few degrees colder than before.

"It would never work," he replied shakily.

His heart and brain were racing in unison, the latter feeling like it was making about as much progress as a hamster on a wheel.

There were reasons, of course.

"Our personalities are completely different and we don't have anything in common except, I don't know, ESP."

The ESP thing didn't even count. If he were to start dating every fellow ESPer he came across – that just wouldn't make sense.

"And hamsters," Shou added.

"Huh? Sure, but only because you liked them first."

"And curry flavored ice cream."

"It tastes better than it sounds," Ritsu agreed. "Not like that's much to brag about."

"And One Punch – "

"No, that's still just you. You don't like any of my favorite shows either... although I appreciate the effort you've gone through to change your mind."

"The umbrella comment was funny though," Shou persisted. "It was right there. He could've used it at any time."

Ugh, well. Ritsu didn't _hate_ his sense of humor.

"I appreciate your company sometimes," Ritsu replied, choosing his words carefully. He wasn't sure why. "Disregarding first impressions, you're also one of the very few people I can rely on."

Shou was surprisingly good at keeping secrets and if he said he was going to do something, Ritsu doubted anything short of the apocalypse could ever prevent him from doing it.

"And a good listener."

At some point, Ritsu had started relying on Shou to listen more than he ever would've expected. Even at the beginning, when every cell in his brain had a warning siren blaring not to, like he was tempting fate. A whole thirteen years of keeping mostly to himself, and the one person he'd chosen to finally talk to honestly was Shou.

Maybe there were better choices, but sometimes it was a nice break from Mob's never ending encouragement. Just knowing that his brother was there and trying to relate wasn't enough – but maybe Ritsu didn't _want_ to relate.

Shou had a tendency to move around as he talked, especially when he was the one talking. He asked a lot of questions too, nodding to himself over Ritsu's answers. Sometimes he missed the point of what Ritsu was saying or argued too much, but Ritsu found that it almost never bothered him.

"Nothing you say is ever boring," Shou replied.

If it was something as simple as "what do you want for lunch?" that was where they always ended up going – although if Ritsu replied that he didn't care, Shou would be more than happy to drag them off to some cheap, unhealthy fastfood joint.

That was another issue he had – if they got together, what would even happen? How long would it last? If they kept up until high school, would they move in together? He didn't want to think about any weird living habits Shou most likely had that he'd have to learn to put up with–

But that was only an "if", right?

The fact that he was actually thinking of their future was startling in itself, and that he was considering it at all was some sort of oddity to him.

Ritsu didn't actually want to date his best friend, did he? The fact that they were such good friends meant he shouldn't. If he said yes and things went sour, it could end what they had entirely and he didn't event want to _think_ of what would happen if Shou decided to get back at him. He'd already seen what Shou's idea of _helping_ could be like – would his family be in danger if they split on bad terms?

... Then again, maybe not. He was sure Shou would continue to act the way he usually did, with no changes despite being in a relationship. He was just... like that.

Ritsu was the one who worried all the time.

Shou was just being honest. He probably wasn't even considering any changes when he brought this up. Which was a good sign. Probably. At the very least, there wouldn't be any secrets between them, unless he was going to do something like burn Ritsu's college application – should they get that far.

He made a mental note to keep any important school-related documents away from Shou, relationship or no relationship.

He realized suddenly that he'd been standing there thinking for a good five minutes, and Shou was still waiting, though he'd started walking in circles and humming a song from that anime he's been going on about. When he noticed Ritsu's attention was back on him, he stopped, and tilted his head questioningly. Ritsu took a breath.

"If – hypothetically – I said yes too, what would happen?"

"Whatever you want to happen. It's a two-person job, after all."

The statement on its own had so many different meanings that Ritsu couldn't figure out which one he intended on implying, but it proved him right.

Ritsu wasn't even entirely sure Shou knew what it meant to be in a "relationship" that didn't involve slinging psychic projectiles at each other. But this did mean he didn't need to worry about unnecessary changes that might come from agreeing to at least _try_.

"Alright then. We'll see how this goes." When Shou made to say something – probably loud – he quickly added; "But touch my diary and it's over."

"Got it."

 **Not bad, Hero! ...I'm worried you wrote a better Ritsu than I do now. OTL**

 **So between the two of us, we made, like, two and a half OPM references, but I missed the opportunity to sneak a Makai no Ossan one in. The only chance I saw would've made that sentence too long.**

 **ELEVEN PAGES, STILL NOT THE LONGEST ONE-SHOT I'VE EVER WRITTEN. Oh no, I forgot to title and summarize it-**


End file.
